Anything
by Demented Koneko
Summary: Eleven year old Peter goes missing and Nathan goes searching for him.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Heroes or the wonderful Petrelli brothers.

**Anything**

Nathan wasn't sure what he had expected when he answered the phone. However, it definitely wasn't the sound of his mother's voice bordering on hysterics.

"Ma. Ma, just calm down a minute." he urged, unable to make out anything she was saying.

"It's Peter." And with those two words, Nathan felt his heart stop.

"Peter? What…What's wrong, Ma?" he asked, not bothering to hide the sudden fear in his voice.

"He…He's missing. I have no idea where he is. He ran off this morning and hasn't come home."

Inwardly he sighed with relief. Peter wasn't hurt. That's what mattered.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just out with some friends and forgotten the time. He'll come back soon."

"No, I called all of his friends parents and they haven't seen him all day. It's… Nathan, it's the reason he ran off and I'm just so worried and-"

"Wait, wait, hold up, Ma. Just tell me what happened."

With his arm pressed against the wall supporting his weight, he waited for his mother to continue. The usual calm and composed, often emotionless women, hearing her like this…it frightened him. And as an image of his little brother appeared in his mind he was overcome with dread.

"Peter and your father got into an argument before his trip this morning. And…some harsh things were said, and Peter, he-he…"

"Shh, just calm down. Everything's going to be fine." he assured. "Have you called the police?"

"I tried, but they said he hadn't been missing long enough. But, Peter, he just got so upset. And I can't help but worry, what if he doesn't come back? You know how emotional he can be. He was so-"

"Hey, this is Peter, we're talking about. Of course he'll come back."

"The weather forecast said that there would be a heavy rain and wind tonight, and, I… What if something happens to him?"

Nathan's eyes darted to the other room. Running his hand through his hair he made a decision. "I'm only a couple of hours away; I'll drive up there and look for him."

"Thank you, Nathan." Angela replied, and Nathan was sure he had never heard her sound quite so grateful. "I know this was supposed to be-"

"Don't worry about it. I'm on my way." And with that he put the phone down and quickly headed into the other room picking up his trousers and shirt currently scattered on the flood.

"Who was that?" came a voice.

He turned around to where a pretty blonde woman stood.

"It was my mother."

She was his girlfriend of seven months now and at the moment was wearing nothing but one of his old shirts.

"Anything important?" she asked playfully.

"Um, yeah, actually." he replied, pausing in putting on his shirt. "It's my brother, he's missing. He disappeared this morning and hasn't come back."

"Aw, I'm sure he's fine. He'll turn up eventually." She said, plopping down on the bed.

"Actually, Colette, I think I'm gonna head up there and look for him."

"What? Now? Our flight leaves in three hours."

"Yeah, I know that and I'm sorry, I really am, but-"

"But nothing, Nathan!" she yelled, standing up. "We've been planning this for weeks now! The first time in so long that we have to spend along together and you're going to look for your stupid kid brother, who's what, been missing for a few hours?"

"Something could-"

"He's a kid! Kid's run off all the time! He'll turn up tomorrow morning fine!" She let out a sigh and moved towards him placing her hands on his chest. "Just come back to bed and we'll-"

"I can't. Not when Peter's out there."

He shoved on his trousers and began buttoning his shirt while she continued to glare at him.

"I'm sorry, Colette, I really am."

"So what, you're little brother's more important than spending time with me?"

He stopped what he was doing completely and stared back at her, not quite sure if she was being serious. Who knows, perhaps to her, the question was perfectly valid. But if there was even the slightest chance that Peter was in trouble then he sure as hell knew the answer. In fact he was beginning to think, even if he wasn't…

"Nathan!"

"Look, I'll see you when I get back, okay?"

"If you go, I won't be here when you get back!"

Nathan let out a small chuckle. "You know what? That's fine by me."

She looked like she had just been slapped and without another word spoken, he grabbed his keys and left.

*********************************************************************

A couple of hours later, he was at his parents, and despite his best hopes, Peter still hadn't come home. His presence on the other hand had thankfully managed to calm his mother.

"Don't worry, Ma. I'll find him. I promise you."

Which was all well and good but he had no idea where Peter might be. He had searched the surrounding neighbourhood and there was no sign of him. The fact that it was pitch black with the exception of the dim streetlights didn't help much.

In his desperation he started to call out. Despite his reassurance to his mother, he was scared. It was a nice neighbourhood, a safe neighbourhood. But that didn't mean something couldn't happen. He had read numerous cases which took place in nice upper-class suburban neighbourhoods just like this one. Innocent children who had been abducted, raped, mur-

No! Angrily he shook his head. He didn't have time to think about this. He had to find Peter.

"Peter! Petey"

Just as his mother had said earlier, the sky suddenly seemed to open and in its wake started attacking the earth with fierce hitting raindrops.

Nathan cursed, pulling his jacket over his head and headed towards the woods. If Peter was anywhere it was in there.

******************************************************************

The rain was thrashing down now as Nathan trudged through the trees. Any calls made to his brother were drowned out by the roaring wind.

Shit. There was no way he could find him in this weather. The logical thing to do would be to wait till the storm was over and come back in the morning when it was light. But when it came down to it, giving up searching for Peter because of a little rain and darkness it seemed so petty.

Then out of nowhere it hit him. Without a second thought, he started running, knowing exactly where he was going.

It was a long shot he knew, but Peter was there. He just had to be.

He stopped and panted frantically as he reached his destination. He glanced up at the tree before him that held his super-secret hideout, or rather his super-secret hideout of ten years ago. He had made this tree house with friends when he was a child and had all but forgotten about it. He had no idea why it had sprung to mind but…

He started to climb up the old rope ladder slightly apprehensive that it would hold his weight and eventually climbing up through his own strength.

The instance he reached the top he shone his torch.

"Who-Who's there?" cried a voice.

And within that moment, Nathan felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Peter."

"Na-Nathan?" the voice questioned, and there sitting in the corner of room was his baby brother.

"Thank…Thank God you're here." Nathan choked out, suddenly aware of how out of breath he was.

"Nathan, what are you doing here?" Peter asked, shielding his eyes from the bright torch light.

"I could ask you the same thing." Nathan retorted. "Do you have any idea what time it is? And Ma, she's been worried sick about you! I had her on the phone panic-"

"Is that why you're here?" Peter interrupted suddenly.

"What?"

"Because Mom asked you to come? Is that why you came to find me?" the boy asked, his tone almost accusing.

"Look, this had nothing to do with what Ma asked. This is to do with you running away!" The man snapped back angrily.

"I didn't run away! I just… I mean-"

The boy stopped suddenly, turning away and moving to one of the corners away from the torch's shine.

Nathan thought he heard a whimper, and it was then that he realised although both he and his mother had been worried sick, the ordeal would have been pretty upsetting for Peter as well.

Carefully he dragged of his body up so that he was completely in the tree house. There was no way he could possibly stand up in here so he had no choice but to crouch.

"I'm sorry, Pete. I didn't mean to yell. I was just worried. I was scared that something would happen to you. I just-" He paused, leaning his back against the wall. "I just wanted to find you. Make sure you were okay."

"Re-Really?" He wasn't sure, but Nathan thought he heard genuine surprise in his brother's voice and this hurt him more than it probably should have.

"Of course. You're my brother, Pete. I'd do anything for you." he said mustering all the emotion he could because he meant it, and he wanted Peter to know.

A second later, Peter had come out of the darkness and threw himself on to his brother, wrapping his arms tightly around him.

"I'm sorry Nathan! I'm sorry!" he cried, sobbing into Nathan's chest.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." The older brother replied, bringing his hand to cup the back of Peter's head. "Everything's going to be okay."

"I-I didn't mean to run away. It's just Dad said… And Mom…" Nathan couldn't make out most of what Peter said through the sobbing but he continued to hold him, letting him get his worries out, gently stroking his hair, silently reassuring him.

How long had it been since he had last held Peter like this? How long since he had last comforted him? He missed it, this closeness with his little brother.

It was another five minutes or so before he finally stopped crying, and it was then that Peter realised that his elder brother was drenched.

"You-You're soaking wet!" he cried moving back slightly.

The older Petrelli let out a soft laugh. "You just noticed, huh? I was too busy worrying about you that I forgot to bring an umbrella."

His attempt at humour however fell flat on its face seeing the guilt on Peter's face.

"I…I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. I didn't think Mom would call you." he confessed. "After this morning, I didn't want to go back home. Well, not right away anyway. I guess I wanted them to worry, even just a little."

"Why, Pete?" he asked softly, deciding not to push the younger boy for an answer.

"I dunno. I just think that sometimes they wouldn't even care if I weren't around, that I'm just a bother. Dad's always riding me, and Mom, she just stands there and agrees with everything he says. I guess I wanted to see if they would even miss me if I was gone, or if they'd even care."

Suddenly Nathan grabbed hold of Peter jolting him slightly. "Don't ever think like that, Peter. You're an important part of this family. Ma and Dad, they love you. And I…I love you."

Peter gazed up at him with wide eyes, a pink tinge surfacing on his cheeks. Shyly he turned his glance away and whispered, "I love you too, Nathan."

Satisfied, Nathan pulled Peter back to his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around him. "We'll stay here till the rain goes off. That okay?"

"Hm."

He felt a little bad knowing that by holding Peter like this he was getting him damp, but he couldn't let go. He'd just been so damn scared. And maybe his girlfriend had been right, Peter had been missing less than a day, maybe he had been over reacting, but the fear he'd experienced was all to real.

"Nathan?"

"Yeah?" He looked down, Peter staring up with those big innocent eyes of his.

"I…I'm really glad you're here. I miss you so much when you're gone." Peter whispered, the adoration he felt for his big brother shining through. "I think about you all the time."

Nathan felt his heart melt. "I miss you too, Pete." he replied, bending down and kissing the top of his head. "And I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately."

"It's not your fault. I mean I know you're busy. You can't help it."

He couldn't help but smile. For his age, Peter was surprisingly understanding. Though he did feel guilty at times. There were times when he avoided going home so he wouldn't have to sit through another one of his father and mother's talks of the future and the impact he would one day make on the world, even if it meant he missed out seeing his baby brother.

"So how is she doing?" Peter asked suddenly.

"Who?"

"Your girlfriend. Colette or something…" Nathan wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not but for a moment he thought he heard resentment in his brother's voice.

"We actually broke up." It was strange. Since he had walked out her apartment he hadn't even thought about it. The weirdest thing however was that he didn't actually feel all that sad.

"How… Why did you guy's break up?"

'Over you actually', Nathan thought to himself; though there was no way he'd tell Peter that. "Differences. Misunderstandings."

"That sucks. Sorry."

"In the end, it was probably for the best." he said pulling Peter closer to him. "Besides, since I am no long tied to prior arrangements I'm free for the next few days to spend time with you."

"Really!?" Peter's face instantly brightened and Nathan couldn't help but feel that this was all worth it just to see the beautiful smile on Peter's face.

"Yep. I'll take you somewhere nice. We'll spend the weekend together, just you and me."

"Nathan, you're the best big brother ever!" Peter cried, leaping into his brother's arms knocking the wind slightly out of him.

Nathan laughed in return. "Okay, okay, but first we have to get out of here and let Ma know you're okay."

Shining the torch on the entryway he saw that the rain had died down a bit.

"I guess we can-"

"Nathan!"

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Noth-Nothing… I just…" Nathan can't help but note that the kid sounded nervous. "Would it be alright if we stayed here a little longer?"

"Sure." he replied, pulling him closer. "Whatever you want, Pete."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Thank you very much for reading. Constructive criticism or any advice on how I could improve is greatly appreciated.


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